Part 1 - Defining
Production Management and the role and challenges of a Production Manager
Right from the beginning, all projects need to be managed in a professional, organised way. This is essentially what production management means. It means to take a production and manage each aspect of it so that everything works out and is completed to a professional standard. At the top of the production management pyramid is the Production Manager.
The Production Manager is responsible for overlooking the project in it’s entirety, making sure everything works to budget and within the time constraints. It’s essential to be organised as the production manager is responsible for the overall scheduling of the production. This involves hiring suitable and experienced people for a number of various roles within their production team, managing and advising them throughout the production process. The manager would also be responsible for scheduling meetings, shooting dates, post-production dates and keeping a suitable level of communication between members of their production team and the clients they are working for.
Project Managers could entail a number of problems such as:
- Sickness within the crew
- Adverse weather conditions on shooting days
- Technical issues with recording equipment
Corporate and Promotional Production and How It’s Different to Advertising Production
Corporate and Promotional Production is a method of filmmaking which involves creating a video for the purpose of making profits. For example, a video promoting a business could be seen as a corporate and promotional production as it would be used to build the recognition of the company and potentially increase their profits. More examples of this kind of production are instructional training videos, promotion of products or individuals, or introducing facilities or services. Businesses like supermarkets now use these kinds of videos displayed in store to entice consumers to buy products, as they are seeming to have a major influence on buying habits. Large companies also tend to create annual corporate programmes for investors and staff.
Despite their nature of introducing audiences to certain companies and services, CPPs are very different to advertising productions. This is because they do not actually advertise and/or persuade audiences to buy a certain product or invest in a business. They purely inform audiences of these things, describing their services and how they work. They usually target a smaller audience, with their content being very defined to a specific demographic.
CPPs have a number of codes and conventions. They come in various styles such as Pop Promo and Drama. The most popular of these is Documentary, a style that includes typical codes such as interviews with specialists, testimonials from customers whether real or staged, and voiceovers over footage of what they have to offer. They are typically short in length, however dependent on the format of the video they can often be longer.
When creating a CPP videos, production managers would have to be considerate of a number of issues. These include legal issues such as privacy of participants, libel toward participants, copyright issues with images and music, and laws such as the race relations act. There are also a number of ethical issues to be considered such as representation of the groups of people featured and how they could be interpreted by other members of that group. (e.g race, gender, religion..)
Social Action and Community Production and how it differs to Corporate and Promotional
SACMs have a number of codes and conventions. They come in a number of styles such as drama and reconstructions for effect, public information broadcasts with a lot of statistics and self shot videos with a personal touch. The most popular of these tends to be drama and reconstruction. This style often includes reconstructions of the lives of those affected by different charities, to highlight the issues they resolve with the help of donations. It could be said that it’s a very personal yet persuasive approach that audiences can relate to. They are typically around 3-4 minutes of length, but can vary dependent on the issue highlighted.
When creating a SACM, production managers would have a number of issues to consider. For example, a number of issues highlighted by these productions are very sensitive and would have to be treated with the appropriate amount of impartiality to minimise the possibility of harm and offence. There would also be a number of legal issues such as copyright of music, images, and other laws such as gender and race equality. Ethical issues such as representation of various groups of people and the perception of this by the audience will also have to be carefully considered.
Pros and Cons of these formats:
CPP
Pros
|
Cons
|
|
|
SACM
Pros
|
Cons
|
|
|
Part 2 - My Understanding Of The Project
From my initial research I feel I have a very good understanding of the project and everything it entails. I understand the difference between the two types of production on offer and the various ways in which it is possible to work and liaise professionally with clients to achieve a well rounded, industry standard end product.
I understand the skills and qualities of a Project Manager, and all of the aspects of production that they are responsible for. I will take on these qualities to try and excel in this role in a professional way. I also understand how this project is giving us the chance to independently find clients in the outside world using these skills, and communicate well with them to create an initial idea. I understand that I will then meet with them throughout the production process to ensure that they are satisfied with the progress and both the creative and business direction the project is headed in. I will take their criticism on board in a suitable way and use it to improve. I also understand how I can hire a production team to assist me in creating this project, and how I must manage them in a professional way whilst consistently maintaining contact and ensuring they know everything that’s going on.
I understand the documentation and professional practice required for the production and how it will all be recorded in a personal online blog. I understand that I must regularly update my blog with what I’m up to for both my tutors and clients to review.
Bibliography
Edexcel Unit 28 Document
Not Dated
No Author Stated
Edexcel Unit 32 Document
Not Dated
No Author Stated
No comments:
Post a Comment